Changing of the Tides
by Soprana
Summary: Naruto and Sakura are stuck on a mission and are being pursued by two other ninja. During this time, Sakura begins to realize her feelings for Naruto. Can they outwit the pursuers and discover the growing attraction between them? Originally a one-shot
1. Chapter 1

**Changing of the Tides**

He had to get there on time, he just had to! Branches loomed from the darkness, as if they were evil hands preventing him from pushing on. With little effort he evaded them, sweat rolling down his face. If he failed, the mission... the plan... all will fail. He dodged a tree and swung up to grasp a branch. He would fail Sakura-chan too. A new sense of determination grew within him. He must not fail Sakura-chan!

He sensed his pursuers still close behind him: good. He picked up the pace. 'Almost there...' He thought. Then, he heard it. Beyond all the trees and above the sounds of the wind whooshing past him, a faint sound of chiming... With a small grin, he slowed and outstretched his hand. He saw her now, her pink hair up in a clip, her emerald eyes ready. In her outstretched hand was a small scroll.

Yes, the scroll was they're objective. They were to capture it, and return it to Konoha. He did as he was instructed, he led the guard on the wildest goose chase of they're lives while Sakura-chan removed it from the camp. Now, he was to relieve her possession of it and continue on, like a giant relay. Swooping down, he whisked it out of her hands and pushed on. He looked back at her, smiling. Now it was her turn to have some fun with her herculean strength...

'Shannaro!' She tightened her gloves and posed for the attack. Her plan had worked so far. Naruto was a decoy, now she was the force to blow them away! Focusing her chakra to her fist, she raised it up, and swung it down on a nearby branch. Unable to take the force, it broke. The wire that connected it to all the neighboring trees did its job. Trees began to fall in a organized fashion, crushing the pursuing party, and making Sakura chuckle at her own doing. Time to head out. She turned on her heels and shot off into the darkness. She failed to notice that she had missed two of the pursuers.

The night had a chill, even if it was late summer, and it caused goosebumps to appear on her body. She had a little ways to go before reaching the campsite Naruto and herself chose earlier today. She rubbed her arms in an attempt to warm herself. When she got there, she planned to soak in the river for a bit, and then curl up under her sleeping bag to rest for the next days journey back to the village. After thirty minutes of non-stop traveling, she felt a presence. Pulling out a kunai, she dove towards the person coming closer. "Ah! Sakura-chan! Stop! It's me!" She already had the kunai to his throat before she recognized his yellow hair and the orange on his jacket. "Naruto! You baka! You know not to sneak up on me in the dark!" With that, she gave him a well aimed punch to the head. In a poof of smoke, he vanished. "Damn it!" she hissed, "A shadow clone..." He's already set up the guard system she told him about earlier. While they rested, his shadow clones would patrol the area as a precaution. It was planned perfectly. Maybe too perfect. She huffed angrily, then continued on to the camp.

Naruto's eyes shot open, alert and focused. Grinning to himself, he thought he should just wait for Sakura-chan to get here and take her punishment, but he wanted to finish bathing himself first. He smelled so bad, he could not even stand himself. He glanced over to the bank to check on the scroll. He figured he should keep it within eye sight, Then, he sank back into the water and sighed. He had a clone standing watch by his clothing, so he relaxed. "Get out of my way Naruto!" Shocked, Naruto stood up to run, but it was too late...

She slammed the clone in the face, unaware that the real Naruto was standing in the river, water up to his abdomen. The clone dissipated and left Sakura staring at the real Naruto frozen in shock. "Ah...heheh, Sakura-chan? I wish you wouldn't sneak peeks at me like this." Naruto said nervously. "WHAT?" she screeched. To retaliate, she ripped a piece of branch and chucked it at Naruto, and turned to walk away, ignoring the growing blush on her cheeks. Naruto's yelp told her she hit her mark. Fuming, she stormed off leaving Naruto nursing the welt now forming on his head. Determined, she moved further down stream. Not so far as out of the guarded zone, but far out of sight of Naruto.

After removing her garments, she slipped into the water. Laying her head back on the bank, she closed her eyes and began to think. 'Why must I carry out a mission that I am perfectly capable of doing by myself with Naruto? I mean, he is my teammate, but I could do this mission myself. I shouldn't have to deal with his perverseness.' She sank deeper into the water. 'I can't believe I had to see him like that! Him standing in the river, the moon shining off his skin, water dripping off and running down his body...Wait, No!' She shook her head violently. She must not think about that! "How his hair glinted when it was wet, how his chest rose and fell when he breathed, how...No!' She ducked under water to cool her head. When she surfaced, she sighed, 'The only person here being perverted is me' Pulling herself out of the river, she began to dress. Faintly, she could hear crashing waves.

"Where?" she whispered, looking around. Quietly, she finished dressing and ran through the forest until she found the waves she had been hearing. The moon was full, and it shone across the sea, the waves glistening from it before they crashed on to the shore. "Wow!" She breathed. What a swell place she had found! Trotting cautiously to the edge of the powdered sand, she gazed up at the sky. 'What a beautiful night', she thought. Sitting down, she sighed and watched waves come and go.

'Sakura-chan has not returned to camp yet' Naruto thought. 'Maybe I should check on her...' He crossed his legs, brought his knuckles together, and began to pull in natural energy. Slowly, he began to enter Sage Mode. Standing up, he sensed her chakra near the shoreline. He quickly packed everything and dashed off to find her.

Getting closer to the shore, he stopped at the forests' end and hid all their belongings in a bush. Scanning the beach, he spotted Sakura-chan. This time, he made sure he made noise so she knew he was there. Last thing he wanted was another punch. She looked at him, her eyes sparkling in the moonlight. "Hey," She whispered. "Sorry, I just got caught up here." She looked back to the sea.

Sensing no anger, Naruto sat down next to her, but only looked at her. Her beauty always mesmerized him. She sighed and leaned back, letting the wind blow through her hair. He blushed slightly. "Naruto." she said, no tone in it. "Hm?" He tilted his head. "How long has Sasuke been gone?" she said in the same toneless volume. This hit Naruto in the gut. 'She is thinking about him again. I wish she would think about me instead.' "Years" he muttered solemly. He looked away. There was a silence, and then Sakura sobbed. He looked back at her with pity, but it was hopeless. He didn't know what to do to comfort her. All he did was reach out and stroke her silky, pink hair. He could not replace Sasuke, he knew this, but he always wanted Sakura-chan to look at him the same way she did Sasuke.

She feel Naruto stroke her hair, and a new feeling came over her. Back when Team 7 was intact, she was always chasing Sasuke, Naruto always chased her. Naruto was the only one who invited her to a date, well, besides Kakashi-sensei...but he was weird like that. Naruto always looked out for her, he always vowed to protect her. Even now, he always looks out for her. He put her before himself. Shaking, she slowly looked at Naruto, his face full of worry. 'He always looked after me, and I never gave him the time of day...' Not really controlling herself, she lunged at Naruto, wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed him. 'Sasuke even tried to kill me...twice. Naruto even took a slice from a poisoned kunai that Sasuke tried to kill me with.' Naruto's face was nothing less than shocked. "S-S-Sakura-chan!" He choked. "Shh..." She put her finger to his lips. Then she kissed him again.

The only sound was the wind and the waves, harmonizing together. "Wait Sakura-chan!" Naruto gasped, pushing her a little. "What about you and Sasuke? You love him right?" She smiled gently, "Naruto, the tide has changed. What I had for Sasuke was just a crush. You have always been there, always smiled, always kept me hoping. You were there all along." Naruto was silent, letting her words soak in. Taking advanatge of his let down guard, she grabbed both sides of his face and pulled him into another deep kiss. This time, Naruto responded. He let one hand stroke her hair, and the other pull her closer to him. 'This can't be real!' he thought as Sakura licked his lips before kissing him again. He felt something growing inside, some urge he had to do. Then, Sakura nipped his bottom lip, and he felt it snap. His hand quit stroking her hair and moved to hold her head from behind. The other held her tightly on his lap so she could not back away.

He began to kiss her jaw, chin, neck, and collarbone softly. She arched her back a bit and she was pressed against him. Where he kissed her, her skin burned with desire. She put her hands on his chest and felt his muscles ripple under his jacket. She moved her hands up his neck and through his hair. Then, she traced the whisker marks on his face lightly. Naruto breathed in sharply, and suddenly flipped her over so she was laying, her back in the sand, and him on top of her. He licked her collarbone, occasionally kissing or biting. His hands began to touch her knees, and then move slowly up her legs. Sakura gasped and whispered his name. That seemed to tantalize him even more...

Meanwhile...

"Izu, I see the camp, shall I annihilate them with a fire justu?" one man emerged from the shadows. "No you idiot! We need the scroll! Roku, why don't you be useful and just go back and crawl under those trees?" The second man stepped out from the shadows. "No Nee-san! I want to help!" The bigger man slapped his palm to his face. "Now your even more annoying." The man called Izu said. "Listen Roku, here's the plan..." Just then, a shadow clone Naruto passed by over head and heard a noise. He stopped abruptly and dropped down from the branches. "Hello?" he called. Suddenly, the shadow he thought was from a tree lunched and ran him through with a sword. "GUAH!" screamed the clone and vanished with a poof. "Damn it! A shadow clone." hissed Izu. "Quick!" Roku yelled, "We now need to move with speed!" Both lunged and tackled the two figures by the fire. With a poof, the figure that looked like a girl vanished, leaving Roku all matted with dirt. Izu continued to constrict the figure that looked like Naruto. "Gotcha Bastard!" Izu laughed hatefully.

Roku began to clap like a seal. "Yay! Big Brother got 'em! Big Brother got 'em!" Izu looked at Roku with a smug look on his face, keeping one hand holding both of clone Naruto's hands over his head. The other hand holding his neck while he sat on the stomach of clone Naruto. "Hah!" Izu laughed, still looking at his brother. "What are you gonna do now?" Clone Naruto grinned evily and yelled, "Oiroke no Jutsu!" There was a poof, then in a small sexy voice, "Oh, Please let me go! I don't like it rough! At least buy me some ramen first, handsome!" Izu froze, face turning red. Roku already covered his face with his hands, giggling and blushing scarlet. Izu slowly looked at the person he now had pinned. He gawked at the naked woman he had immobilized. 'Now it's time to ice the cake' thought clone Naruko. She pouted at Izu then winked. "GUAAAA!" Izu fell backwards propelled by a monstrous nosebleed. Giggling, Naruko got up, bowed, then dissipated. "Hey! Hey Nee-san! You ok?" Roku continued to poke his brother until Izu punched him in the stomach. " You annoying aho!" Izu shouted, slapping Roku. Smug, Roku turned his back on Izu and muttered, "At least when I bleed, I have some kind of serious injury." That earned Roku a kick in the back of the head. "And I'll be the one to give that serious injury to you if you don't shut up!" Izu snapped while wiping the blood from his face. "We need to find them, NOW!"

Naruto was pulling down the zipper of Sakura's jacket, licking her chest, listening to her ragged pants and gasps. He was just about to expose some of her bra when his head shot up faster than any movement he's made before. "Shit!" He yelled. Sakura jumped at his outburst. She sat up when he took off to the bags he'd left in the bush. "Naruto?" She asked questionably when he returned and gave her her bag. "Quick Sakura-chan!" he hissed. She put on her bag and stood up. "The guard, they are coming! They took two of the clones already! The other decoy is soon to follow!" Sakura's heart stopped for a second. "Wha-?" she tried to say. Naruto pulled her close, pressing he hips close to his. Then he kissed her like there was no tomorrow. When he broke away, he handed her the scroll. Shocked, she looked up at him. "Sakura-chan, no matter what happens, keep running. Don't stop. Keep running. You.." He looked towards the forest again, silent. "Nar..." "My henge clones and Naruko vanished, they must be looking around and pursuing us now." Naruto said softly. He looked back at her and whispered, "I have a plan, Sakura-chan..."

"Nee-san, I sense them up ahead!" Roku chirped. "Finally!" Izu said before they burst out of the brush. Standing there in a defensive stance, his blonde hair waving in the light breeze, was Naruto. His eyes were a cold, icy blue. "Ha! We have you now!" Roku bellowed before charging forward, oblivious to the net before him. "Roku! Watch..." "AH! A net!" "...out" Izu finished calmly. Naruto smirked as he watched the man he figured was Roku swinging comically in a net up in a tree. "Roku," Izu muttered, slapping his hand on his forehead, "I feel sorry for you that mother dropped you when you were a baby." Naruto sighed. As long as these idiots kept wasting time, Sakura-chan was pelting to the village with the scroll. "Well actually Nee-san, She was kneeling to pick something up and she dropped me. So it was half a drop." Roku said in an informative tone. 'However,' Naruto thought, ' the more time they waste, the longer I have to stand here and wait.' "Forgive me, I never realized you became an idiot all by yourself!" Izu spat.

"Forgive me for being rude but, I'm going to attack now." Naruto mocked. Izu stopped and pointed at him and yelled, "You stay out of this! This is family matters!" "Yeah!" Roku copied, "Wait your turn!" "Wait my turn? You two are just wasting my time! I'm out of here!" Naruto snorted as he leaped away. As he was leaving, Roku managed to cut himself free and came crashing down to the ground. A second later, he popped up and yelled, "Good! Go away! Your interrupting our family meeting!" "Roku you baka! I was enjoying an audience!" Izu shouted. "Well Nee-_chan_, sorry your such a drama _queen_." Roku said, emphasizing every syllable. "Why you!" Izu growled as he advanced to grasp Roku's neck. While in the middle of strangling each other, both siblings stopped, then looked at each other with wide eyes. "Nee-san, did we just..." "Roku, just shut up, shut up now." Izu muttered as he let Roku drop from his grasp. He looked toward the direction Naruto disappered. "If we hurry, we can catch him and his pink haired sheila." Izu said before jumping of and leaving Roku tangled in the net's ropes.

**Sorry, this is all I can write now. Mid-terms and paper due dates are flying at me like pies. I would finish, but I can't stand not having some story up. Until later,**

**Soprana**


	2. Chapter 2

The forest remained dark as Sakura hurdled around trees and over branches. She was getting tired, but she had no time to waste. Naruto told her to go as fast as she could to Konoha and deliver the scroll. The smell of fresh jasmine filled her nose as she jumped down and sprinted across a field. Her boots tore up any flowers in her path as she neared the next patch of forest. 'I hope Naruto is alright.' Sakura thought as she dashed up into the trees.

'Damn!' Naruto thought as he chakra sprinted through the trees. 'Damn! Sakura is freaking fast!' He cursed as he forced himself to a faster speed to catch up with her. He had told her to go as fast as she could, but damn! He jumped down to a field filled with jasmine. He saw Sakura's fresh prints in the soft ground. 'Good, she's close.' He thought as he chakra sprinted onward. He was pissed at the bimbo's that interrupted his moment with Sakura-chan. Because of them, he had to waste his time defending her from nothing. He knew they were pursuing them, but he hoped they would not catch up. They have had enough trouble.

"Nii-san!" Roku bellowed as he struggled to keep up with Izu. "I don't want to talk to you!" Izu snapped back, pushing off from a branch and sprinting along. "Nii-san! I have something in my shoe! What should I do?" Roku whined, jumping from branch to branch on one foot. "Stick your head in a tree and stand still, wait for a circus to pick you up!" Izu shouted back. "Okay Nii-san!" Roku chirped as he looked around for a hole. "Wait, Hey! Not funny Nii-san!" Roku finally said angrily. Izu slapped his face.

Sakura rocketed across gaps in the branches. She felt her chakra dwindling and her breath getting short. The trees became a bit fuzzy and they started to wiggle. She leaped up and reached out for a branch. To her shock, the branch wiggled and she saw she was actually feet from it. She let out a shocked gasp as she plummeted down from her height. Her body gained momentum and her heart was in her throat. She couldn't even breathe in to scream. She knew this fall could kill her, but she had no strength left. She braced herself for the impact, which never came. She suddenly was resting against something hard yet warm and was being propelled forward. She opened her eyes to see Naruto's face looking at her with concern. Sakura sighed in relief.

"Your timing is impeccable." She said as Naruto broke into a grin.

"Shh, you can rest now. You were freaking flying. I barely caught up." Naruto laughed. Sakura smiled and snuggled up in his arms as he carried her on.

"Nii-san! I was going to skip up some flowers for you but you are too busy chasing those two!" Roku complained. "Shut up! We are almost with them! We can't let their Hokage see the contents of that scroll!" Izu shouted.

Naruto hissed as he continued. They had caught up.

The mishap with Sakura lost time, but they were only miles from Konoha. The mission was almost complete. Suddenly he heard them from behind.

"Oi! Stop! Give us our scroll please!" Roku yelled. Naruto looked back at them. 'They can't be serious. Thinking I'll give them the scroll because they asked nicely.' Naruto scroffed.

"Oi Jerk! Give us our scroll now!" Izu snarled. 'That's more like it.' Naruto thought as he pushed more chakra into his legs. He rocketed out of the trees, over the Konoha wall and half way into the village. He sent a clone to check in for both him and Sakura. He pushed on to the Hokage tower.

"Damn it!" Izu snarled.

"Hehe! He got away! Guess he didn't want a date with you Nii-san! You scared him off!" Roku snickered, only to receive a well placed punch to his face. Izu henged into a young woman of twenty. She had long golden hair and brown eyes.

"I'm going to get that scroll back baka!" Izu snapped in a womanly voice. Roku stared for a moment before breaking out in laughter.

"Oh Nii-san! Your so gorgeous! Any guy will fall for you now! Before, you were just too ugly." Roku gasped in fits of laughter.

"I'm prettier than you." Izu said as he walked up to the gate to sign in.

"What! I can be pretty too!" Roku exclaimed. Then he henged into a woman with long brown hair and brown eyes. "I got curves in _all_ the right places. You have just the opposite." Roku said as he approached the gate.

"You callin' me fat?" Izu snarled as his fake papers were approved.

"Yes." Roku said as his fake papers were approved too.

"Your lucky I don't want to ruin my dress and get the scroll. Cause I will kill you." Izu hissed as they set off to the Hokage tower. Roku grinned.

"Hey Nii-san. That dress looks awfully like one of mom's. Care to explain?" Roku whispered. Izu smiled coyly.

"I noticed yours is like our neighbors. Care to explain that?" Izu whispered. Roku turned red and looked away.

"I...I always thought I could pull off this dress better than her." Roku whispered.

"Baka!" Izu shouted as he slapped Roku in the head. They began to clamber into the Hokage tower.

Tsunade heard a knock on the door. "Enter." she said calmly. The door opened and Naruto and Sakura walked in. Sakura was leaning on Naruto to support herself. "Ah, How was the mission?" Tsunade asked. There was another knock on the door. "Enter." Tsunade repeated. Two girls entered and stood by the wall. "I'm in the middle of something ladies, I'll be with you in a moment." Tsunade said before turning to Naruto and Sakura.

"Did you complete the task?" Tsunade asked sternly. Sakura nodded and dug in her bag. She pulled out the scroll. "Yes Shishu, we retrieved the green scroll with the gold seal just like you requested." The girls in the back made a noise. All the Konoha ninjas ignored them. Sakura handed Tsunade the scroll and Tsunade opened it. After reading it she nodded.

"Yes, this is the correct one. Lots of important information. Naruto, Sakura, You have done an excellent job. Shizune! Get me the necessary equipment!" Tsunade said. "Yes Tsunade-sama!" Shizune chirped. Naruto and Sakura tilted their heads. "Are you going into battle, Granny?" Naruto asked. The two girls made similar motions and jumped beside Tsunade. Naruto and Sakura reached for their kunai's.

"Halt! You have stolen our most precious scroll! We will not allow such evil to prevail!" The both shouted. Tsunade looked at them confused.

She layed the scroll down so all of them could see the contents. After reading it, the color faded from the girls and they poofed back to normal.

"Granny. You had us take down all of these guards... and run back here at full speed... for a Sake Cake Recipe?" Naruto bellowed.

In the scroll was a list of ingredients and directions for making a sake cake. Roku and Izu looked shocked.

"Nii-san! This is mom's sake cake recipe! It was by the sacred scroll of our village! And it looks almost alike!" Roku exclaimed. Izu was lost for works.

"So you chased us because you thought we had your sacred scroll?" Sakura asked Izu. Izu nodded dumbly. Tsunade laughed made all of them look at her.

"Well, if I told you what it was for, you all wouldn't have done the mission!" She said. Naruto was about to say something, his face angry. Sakura interrupted.

"It's fine Shishu. We got some good training and even better teamwork out of it." She said as she winked at Naruto. He caught on and smiled sneakily. "Yeah, Granny. Could you just copy the recipe and give these guys back their scroll?" Naruto said. Izu and Roku laughed.

"Nah, Mom has tons of copies. Keep this one. We got some good training in pursuit out of this. We are sorry for the trouble." Izu laughed. Roku nodded. Tsunade squealed in delight. Roku and Izu bowed.

"Time to go home!" Roku said as he pumped his fist in the air. Izu merely chuckled as they both left.

Tsuande looked at Naruto and Sakura. "I give you two a week off. You don't know how much I wanted this recipe." She said as she continued to read it. Sakura and Naruto bowed before leaving.

When they had gotten to Naruto's apartment, Sakura got this gleam in her eyes. "Naruto? Can I come in for a moment?" She asked.

"Sure Sakura-chan!" Naruto said as he opened his door, oblivious to Sakura's plan.

Naruto rushed into the kitchen and was cleaning up the mess before Sakura saw it and reprimanded him. Little did he know, Sakura was in his bedroom, planning.

Naruto was throwing away some old ramen bowls when he heard Sakura yell. "Naruto! Come help me with something!" He sighed and walked into his bedroom.

He saw Sakura on his bed. She was leaning over to look between the bed and the wall. Her legs were slighty spread so he could see her in a whole new way. Gulping he tried to walk around to see what she was looking at.

"No, come over here so you can see it!" Sakura ordered. Naruto came over and tried to look.

"See what Sakura-chan?" He asked. "Lean over and look!" She answered. Naruto let sweat drop. If he leaned over, he would be leaning over her. But she needed his help, so he leaned over her.

"Do you see it?" Sakura asked, letting a smirk that Naruto couldn't see cross her face. Naruto was quiet for a moment before he asked. "What am I looking for?" Sakura had to stop herself from laughing.

"My bra." she answered calmly.

Naruto stiffened, in more ways than one.

'Did she really just say that? Did I hear that wrong?' He thought. Sakura raised her butt and grinded against Naruto's pants, and what was in them.

'Nope. I heard her right.' Naruto told himself.

Sakura made a small noise and pressed up against him. He felt his control fading fast. He had to resist.

"Naruto..." Sakura then whispered in a seductive tone.

'That's it!' Naruto yelled at himself. He grabbed Sakura and flipped her over. His breathing was now ragged. His hands roamed over her body once more.

"I...I love you...Naruto." Sakura moaned. Naruto stopped and looked up at her, checking if she was lie ing.

"What?" He asked.

Sakura moved up and kissed him before repeating herself.

"I love you Naruto." She said again, more clearly. Naruto was shocked for a moment before smiling.

"I love you too Sakura-chan." Naruto whispered before continuing to kiss her. They continued where they left off on the beach.

Kakashi, being the pervert he was, watched from the window. He had an invisibility justu in action so he could watch. Smiling to himself, he observed his students express themselves. 'About time.' He thought before leaving Naruto and Sakura to their escapade.

The tide was going out for Sasuke and coming in on Naruto. And what a beautiful change it was...


	3. Soprana's forgotten stuff!

**Suff I forgot to mention:**

**Thank you to Flying Fox of Snowy Mountain for the reviews on my stories! They were very helpful!**

**Thank you to conn for the reviews too! Glad you enjoy my stories!**

**A _BIG _thanks to ****Masashi Kishimoto for creating this awesome manga! Whoo!**

**~ Soprana  
**


End file.
